Talking Teacups

One of the nice things about reading children’s books is the discovery that animals can laugh and trees can sing and even teacups can speak. You never raise the question, “Why is this teacup talking?” You just allow yourself to get caught up in the fantasy and get carried along with it. In one such story, a couple are buying a new teacup. The wife says to her husband, “Look at this one. It is beautiful. I want to buy it.” And the teacup says, “Ah, but you know, I wasn’t always beautiful.” Instead of being surprised at a teacup talking, the couple simply asked the teacup what it means. The teacup says, “In the beginning, I was just a soggy, damp lump of clay. They put me on a wheel and they started turning that wheel until my head became dizzy. Then they started to poke and prod, and I cried out,‘Stop!’ but they said ‘Not yet.’ At long last they did stop the…